In the present specification, context means the environment surrounding an activity that can be quantified using data describing the environment. This allows particular aspects of an activity to be adapted to be more appropriate to the situation.
An example of context is where a mobile phone user is in a physical situation such as a business meeting which requires the use of a discreet ring-tone. Here, an inaudible annunciation such as phone vibration or the appearance of an on-screen icon signals an incoming call. The context as it relates to the mobile phone device is to specify the execution of an action in a way which is sensitive to the phones environment. This can be referred to as a change in the operational state of the mobile phone.
Communicating the context to the relevant device may be as straightforward as the user selecting a silent phone mode by entering a parameter profile via the phone keypad. However, in some situations communication occurs quickly and requires that a user be able to communicate such a change to a device rapidly and unambiguously. It is this aspect of context detection and specification with which the invention is concerned.
Some research has been done on context-sensitive systems such as mobile devices which directly or indirectly deduce context information using sensors. These systems often provide changing context data depending on the physical location of the device. Physical location is an inherent aspect of context and, along with timing information, can be used to filter nearby observations or actions as relevant context, from more distant and less relevant factors.
Although this type of context sensing can provide sophisticated situational data, there are many contexts where all that is required is to determine the users work-state in a coarse-grained manner. The present invention focuses on an uncomplicated and inexpensive system for communicating a users context to a device which is intuitive, rapidly user-switchable and straightforward to implement using available technology.
As will become clear from the following description, the invention, while being simple in operation, is extensible and capable of modification by the user, to allow communication of context data to other devices and covering a range of contexts.
In the presently envisaged application, the invention may be applied in a work or home environment and ideally in the context where a user interacts with a desktop or portable computer according to a number of operational states. Here an operational state can be identified with a context such as work, private email, browsing, out to lunch, private activity etc. An important factor is that the context information reflects real and intuitive actions and situations as applied to the user.
In such a situation, it would be useful to be able to communicate the users present context to a device. A useful illustration exists in the workplace environment where instant messaging, email or similar communication systems cause interruptions in the form of incoming calls or messages. These can be difficult to ignore. A user, when faced with an incoming email or an instant message, is usually tempted to read or respond to them immediately. This can be distracting and counter-productive. It would be useful if there existed a system which would allow a user to communicate his or her context to the corresponding communication device easily and intuitively in order to block, filter or otherwise manage this incoming information. To this end, the context also needs to be rapidly switchable as the focus of a user's attention can quickly change from, for example, “working”: a low interruption state, to “browsing the web”: a high interruption state.
The solution should ideally be easily configurable so that the user can tailor his or her environment to respond in the desired manner to a range of selected contexts. Also, the solution should be intuitive, easy to understand and, above all, accurate and reliable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a context communication system and method which allows a user to specify context in the way outlined above.